Episode 10: Catch Her If You Can
Part 2
Opal peered into the night as she and her accomplice hurried around the back of the store to a more secluded area further away from the building. Her eyes darted around, searching for a car, but saw nothing except for the southern countryside she so loved.
“Nick…”
He smirked. “Just wait for it, Opal.”
In his hands was a small remote. It lit up as his fingers stroked it before pressing down a small, red button. Within minutes, she spied Nick’s customized onyx 1953 Hudson Hornet, which Brian had described to her in detail. “I thought you wrecked it in Canada,” she said as it cruised to a stop before them, the engine rumbling almost impatiently. She smiled to herself, remembering in amusement how jealous Brian was of the car, although he would never admit it.
Nick smiled with pride at his car as the doors opened for them. “Pearl’s a genius and fixed it for me.” He paused. “After she yelled at me for damaging it. If it happens again, I think she might end up castrating me for it.”
Opal giggled nervously as she buckled her seatbelt. She and Nick tossed their disguises into the back seat, and he sped off towards the hotel. As she glanced back out the window, she swore she could see Brian’s car driving away. She sighed sadly. How had everything gone wrong so fast? It felt like she had just gotten Brian back after nearly losing him in Canada. And now, just when things were finally back to normal for both of them, he had been forced away again by something she didn’t even understand.
Why did they think it was her? Just what had been stolen from the Library of Congress that warranted the FBI’s involvement? Her mind scanned through what she knew for any clue as to what was going on. She had an idea that Brian did actually know what had been stolen but hadn’t told Nick because he knew Nick would tell her, and he wouldn’t want Opal to worry.
“Hey, Opal… Ooooopal…”
“Huh?” She turned to see Nick staring at her with concern. “Sorry, I’m just tired, Nick.”
He nodded, cutting off the engine. “We’re here. It’ll look weird to put those things back on…” His head motioned towards the backseat. “…so what we’ll do, just in case they remember I’m out here in DC working with Brian, is I’ll block you from the camera’s view. Just act like you’re my girl.”
“Act like I’m…”
Nick paused when he saw the look on her face. “No, we won’t do anything; I just don’t want any of the cameras getting anything incriminating. I’m banking on the fact that the FBI doesn’t realize HimTak’s out here to follow up on the Canada mess.”
Nick stepped out of the car and rushed over to her side, opening the door. “Keep your head tucked towards me.”
He wrapped his arm around her, and they quickly hurried into the hotel. She kept her face alongside his neck as he held her close. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied Nick smirking at the people in the hotel lobby, who watched them coming in. “Come on, baby… we don’t want everyone to see what we’re doing.”
Opal giggled to play along with the ruse — and also at the furtive grin Nick shot her after saying that. He really was a better agent than Brian used to give him credit for. She shifted her head against his neck, simulating another action to throw people off as they hopped in the elevator. She turned to move, but Nick inched his head both ways to silently negate that thought. “Elevator cameras,” he murmured as he nudged her over to the corner, keeping his back to the camera to block any solid view.
They reached their floor, and she kept her face against him, her hand rubbing his back while he stroked her arm to keep up the image. Nick had started singing to himself yet again, which made her want to laugh. The man seemed to be a human jukebox.
“Meet me at the hotel room… You can bring your girlfriends and meet me at the hotel room,” he sang as he let them into the room he had booked. “We at the hotel, motel, Holiday Inn… We at the hotel, motel, Holiday Inn…”
They separated as soon as they went inside. She sat down on the bed, laughing despite the situation. “You have a song for everything, don’t you?”
Nick smirked as he pulled off his watch. “Pretty much. It’s a handy skill, you know.”
“What are you doing?”
“Contacting K through Pearl’s lab. I don’t trust the phones. They probably have Brian’s phone tapped and are getting his phone records.”
Opal nodded as she took off her shoes and tried to relax, something she found rather difficult, especially as she thought of Brian, whom she ached to see right then. He was risking everything for her, and it touched her in ways she would never be able to express. “They’ll do the same to your cell phone once they remember you.”
“Right. My watch is…”
“…the one that can’t tell time. Right.”
He stuck his tongue out at her as he pressed buttons on the normal-looking watch in a careful, methodical way. “No one ever forgets that, but yeah. The most important thing it does is communicate back to HimTak.” Pearl’s face appeared on the tiny screen. She was holding some sort of shoe in her hand. Why? Nick could only guess what idea she currently had in her head.
“What’s up, Blondie Boy?”
“I need you to connect me to K.”
“Now, Nick? Something’s come up, I think, ’cause he’s been in his office and called Jay up there about an hour ago–”
“Vital, Pearly. We’ve got a problem here.”
“Okay, give it a sec.”
“Aight. Hey, you still mad at me?”
“No. Do I ever stay mad at you?”
He smiled; she had a point. “True.”
“Connecting you to K.” In seconds, he was looking into K’s agitated green eyes. Pearl hadn’t been kidding when she’d tried to tell him it was a bad time. A quick glance at Opal, who was now trying — and failing — to distract herself by watching TV, reminded him of how important it was.
“008, I swear, if you’re on to complain about Brian–”
“No, someone’s framed Opal.”
“–I’ll make you work with him so — wait, say that again, Carter?”
Nick waved Opal over. She sat next to him, peering into the screen. Leaning over Nick, she managed to put on a faint smile for K. “Hello, Kevin, nice to see you again.”
“Just what did you do, 008?”
Nick rolled his eyes. It figured he’d get blamed. “I didn’t do anything, K. The Feds showed up at Brian’s place. Damn government. And because of that…”
“Don’t say anything more. Not there, anyway; it’s not secure enough. This must be what Brian phoned me about.”
Nick raised a brow, instantly curious as to how the Kentucky cousins were able to talk when it seemed obvious Brian’s phones would have already been tapped. It was Opal who voiced the thought first, however. “How did he do that? I mean, any competent agent would’ve hit the lines…”
“A pay phone around the back of the grocery store. He made sure to be cautious, of course. His exact words were, ‘Hey, I missed you, cuz. Nick’s anxious to see you. He’s having family trouble.’ So I knew something had gone down with you that involved him. I was hoping it wasn’t serious. Damn.”
“What, what else?”
“I think it might be mixed in with our latest mission. Get your rear here, 008, ASAP.”
“I need transport. They’ll probably connect it to me by morning and track my car.”
“We’ll send one of the jets. Five o’clock.”
“Why you gotta make it so early?” He heard Opal chuckle at this, reminding him of the other thing K had said. “And wait, what latest mission?”
“You’ll find out once you get here. It’s all connected. I know that now.” With that, the connection ceased, leaving Nick staring at a blank screen. “I hate when he does that,” he muttered.
Opal glanced at Nick as he fiddled with his watch. “So he knows what’s going on?”
“K always does.”
***
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Legs. Sexy. Sexy. Legs.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Nick’s eyes followed the pair of legs right across from him religiously. They were crossed and beautifully accessorized with a pair of black high heels. Their owner kept tapping one foot rhythmically to the ticking of the clock on the wall. He didn’t give a damn about women’s fashion, but he had to admit that this was the sexiest pair of legs he’d ever seen. He could imagine his hand stroking her ankle and slowly making his way upwards, inch by inch. Up to the knee… to the thigh…
“Aren’t they gorgeous?” Diamond sighed dreamily as she stared at her feet. Nick nodded absent-mindedly, half-hearing what she’d said. Gorgeous legs, for sure.
“I have to get Pearl a good birthday present as a thank you,” she chirped. “These are the best shoes ever! And the secret weapon she installed in them is just superb.” She lifted her right foot towards Nick. “See the heel?” she questioned, seeing Nick nodding absently from the corner of her eye. “It’s a gun. All I need to do is take it off and hold it like a pistol, and then I can shoot with it.”
“Awesome,” Nick mumbled, his blue eyes still fixed on Diamond’s beautifully-shaped legs.
Diamond lowered her foot and looked lovingly at her shoes. “I’ll wear these forever.”
Nick nodded again, without taking his eyes off of Diamond’s legs. Amen to that.
Their boss cleared his throat loudly, which was enough to make Nick snap out of his dream world and come unwillingly down to Earth. He shook his head slowly as the image of the room changed from Diamond’s bedroom to K’s office. Nick groaned as he looked around, his eyes stopping on the newest Double-0 in the room, Leo DiCaprio, who wanted to be known as Vitruvian. Nick followed Leo’s gaze, only to realize that his eyes were fixated on the same target: Diamond’s sexy legs.
“Great,” Nick muttered inwardly as he sat up straight in his seat. Why was 009 in this meeting anyway?
“So I see everyone is ready for the briefing.” K spoke sternly, looking directly at Nick. His expression said too much, and Nick could read it easily. This time around, his message was very clear: “Don’t mix business with pleasure. Period.”
“Alright, I’ll start,” K continued. “As we all know, something was stolen from the National Library’s restricted section in Washington just a night ago. We now have confirmation on what it was.” K stopped for a second and eyed the agents. “It was the President’s Book.”
“What?!” Nick and Diamond replied in unison; their eyes widened with shock.
“Great. Just great. Like being accused of stealing something from the National Library wasn’t bad enough, it HAD to be the President’s Book. Unbelievable.” Opal spoke from one corner of the office, her face flushed with anger. “Just freaking unbelievable.”
K nodded knowingly. “And as you have all noticed, we also have a guest here today. Ashavari Desai is being accused by the FBI of being behind the theft.”
“How do we know that?” Leo questioned.
“Because the thief impersonated her. She made sure that her face was exposed to the security cams around the library, so the FBI would come after Ashavari, and she could get away easily.”
“No offense, honey…” Diamond eyed Opal sympathetically before she turned her attention back to K. “…but how do we know that it wasn’t really her who stole the President’s Book?”
“You’re right to question that, 006. We know it wasn’t her because she was with my cousin, Brian Littrell, the very same night of the theft.” K cleared his throat; it was quite obvious that he wanted to explain more but didn’t know how to. “But since Brian is the only witness, and he and Ashavari are, well, specially linked with each other, the FBI doesn’t totally believe it.”
Nick eyed Diamond, who smiled innocently but with a devilish expression in her eyes. Her smile grew wider and matched the look in her eyes when she caught Nick’s gaze. Nick could barely stifle his laugh — who other than K would have said “specially linked” to refer to his cousin and his girlfriend? Their boss was endearing when it came to the subject of love.
“Back to the subject of the theft… I thought the President’s Book was just a myth?” Leo spoke, taking the others’ attention back to the main conversation.
“Well, it’s never been officially confirmed, but it’s always been said that there’s a book with all the juicy secrets of the government,” Diamond replied, wiggling her eyebrows. “And you know what they say about gossip… it always starts somewhere.”
“Man… the minute we have our hands on that book, I’m so gonna read that bad boy, cover to cover. Alien cover-ups… the Kennedy assassination conspiracy… oh, and speaking of JFK — what about him and Marilyn Monroe?” Nick grinned, wiggling his eyebrows just like Diamond had.
K sent him a stern look, one of the many that he’d been giving him since the start of the meeting. His eyes widened in disbelief when he heard Agent Jay snickering beside him.
“May I ask something?” It was Nick’s trainee, Styx, who spoke up timidly. He had been observing and listening to the others through the briefing, but now he asked, “What is the President’s Book?”
Grateful that someone was actually still focused on the subject of the mission, K turned his attention to his new recruit.
“The President’s Book of Secrets is said to be a collection of documents prepared by the presidents, for presidents’ eyes only. Allegedly, the book covers and contains many secrets about notorious events that occurred in the past.”
“Such as?” Styx probed.
“JFK and Marilyn.” Nick grinned devilishly, only to receive another stern look from K.
“Too many to name. Basically, all the stuff about Watergate, 9/11, the JFK assassination, Area 51…”
“Are we in it?” Diamond questioned.
K sighed. “Probably we are. If it exists, of course.”
“Well, it’s pretty obvious it does exist if it’s been stolen from the Library of Congress. You can’t risk your life to steal something that’s not real,” Jay replied.
K nodded in agreement. “Anyhow, the FBI is investigating the theft as well, but all their evidence points to Ashavari. We have to be one step ahead of them and find the real thief as soon as possible. In the meantime, Ashavari is going to be our guest.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Opal chimed in as she looked directly at K, “but I think it’s important for me to be a part of this mission. I appreciate the hospitality, but I don’t want to sit back, doing nothing while there’s a person out there who’s acting like me and stealing top-secret documents.”
K fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. “I don’t really think that’s a good idea, Ashavari. Brian would–”
“I know what Brian thinks.” Her voice was filled with determination. “But he knows me better than that. I just can’t sit around, especially when your own agents are putting themselves out there for me. I have to be in the field. Please.”
Brian had definitely been understating when he’d complained about how stubborn his girlfriend was. K eyed Jay out of the corner of his eye.
Getting the message through one simple look from his boss, Jay spoke for the first time. “Actually, I believe we could find a way to send you out in the field without the risk of getting caught.” It was something he and K had discussed beforehand. “You can go in disguise.” He smiled when Opal’s face softened with hope. “Of course, we’ll need to change your appearance and get you a fake ID, but that won’t be too much of a hassle. Right, K?”
Leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed on his chest, K kept his silence. His eyes darted from Jay to Opal, who was looking directly into his eyes with the same fortitude. Jay’s solution was logical and safe; they had used the same method for their own agents, and it had almost always worked out fine. But still, something didn’t feel right. He blamed his own sense of responsibility. Brian had sent Opal to HimTak, to his agency, knowing she’d be in good hands. It was K’s job to protect her, no matter what. Sending her out on a mission, one they couldn’t begin to predict the course of, seemed downright dangerous. And it felt like he was betraying Brian’s trust. His green eyes met Opal’s again, noting their lack of hesitation or fear. As much as he hated to admit it, K knew he couldn’t tie her down.
“I don’t like the sound of it.” His voice was solemn when he finally spoke, looking directly at Opal. “Disguises work most of the time, but I still think it could get dangerous for you. But I also know you won’t take no for an answer.”
Opal smiled genuinely. “Thank you, Agent K.”
“Speaking of which…” K raised his voice and turned his attention to Nick. “Jay and I both think you should go under some kind of disguise as well, 008.”
“Me?” Nick was surprised. “Why do I need that? Gorilla head worked out just fine!”
“The FBI knows you and Brian were working together on a case in DC when the book was stolen. Now, they didn’t know you were with Brian when the Feds came to his house to take Opal into custody, but they may find out. You’re not a suspect yet, but they have you on their radar; that’s all we know. So it’s safer for you to go in disguise.”
Nick scoffed. “Stupid FBI; they can’t prove anything. And they can’t take me into custody just because I happened to be in DC–”
“I can discharge you from the mission if that’s what you want.”
Nick went silent and glared at K, who gave a brief nod in return.
“That’s what I thought.”
“What about Brian?” Nick piped up, deciding not to prolong the disguise issue. “He’ll be joining us once we hit DC, right?”
K eyed Opal at the mention of Brian’s name and then glanced at his fellow agents before answering Nick. “Unfortunately not. The FBI is still keeping him under surveillance. They believe Brian helped Opal to escape, and since they don’t have any other leads other than the security cam images, they are sure Opal is the sole perpetrator of the theft, and Brian is guilty of harboring a fugitive of the law.” He let out a sigh as he finished his sentence.
“Bullshit,” Nick muttered under his breath as the others kept their silence and avoided eye contact with Opal.
“We don’t have time to discuss whether it’s right or not. I don’t like the idea of having my own family under suspicion, but we have to get going and find the real criminal before it gets worse. So…” He looked down at his papers. “003, 006, 008, and 009: you’re going to be working on this mission together. And 008, Styx will come as well — he’s proven he’s able to handle being in the field.”
Nick nodded. A month ago, he’d have groaned, but Styx had done as well as he could expect in Canada. No, he hadn’t been able to take down Rough or Drums, either, but at least he’d managed not to get himself killed. That was something in itself.
K continued, “You’ll be working in two teams: Carter, Diamond, and Styx will be in one team, and Jay, Vitruvian, and Opal on the other.”
As he caught this last part, Nick’s face beamed. “Ha!” He smirked back at Leo, who attempted to hide a pout. “Right back at ya, 009!”
Diamond’s soft giggle caught his attention, and when he turned to look at her, he noticed the small movement of her lips as she mouthed, “Lucky you.”
Oh, he was lucky indeed. This was going to be one hell of a mission.
***